Commending the purpose of the third annual Civil Rights Baseball Game and recognizing the historical significance of the location of the game in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I do support House Resolution 530, commending the purpose of the third annual Civil Rights Baseball Game.

The third annual Civil Rights Game will be played, as indicated by my friend from Virginia, by the Reds and the White Sox on June 20 at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. It serves as a celebration of the role of sports and the role that they played in advancing equal rights in America.

As part of that celebration, three great Americans will be honored at the game: Muhammad Ali, Bill Cosby, and Hank Aaron. They will receive awards as individuals ``whose lives are emblematic of the spirit of the civil rights movement.''

Mr. Ali was a 10-time heavyweight champion boxer. Since he left the sport, he has engaged in many humanitarian efforts and traveled the world on goodwill missions. Mr. Cosby has spent the last five decades as a comedian, entertainer, and, I would add, philosopher. His life has been a testament to proper handling of race issues. This extraordinary man just went about being the extraordinary person that he is. He has entertained, he has inspired, and he has taught me, for one, for most of my life.

He is the first comedian from whom I bought an album. As I recall, it was ``To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With.'' And I've loved the man ever since. I got to see him recently in concert in Tyler and was as excited as ever. What a delightful man. The way he causes us to realize we all have so many of the same strange, enigmatic traits, fears, aspirations, hopes. His television show was certainly inspirational. He makes us laugh at our faults and makes us want to improve them. As a great American, I look forward to his being recognized there at the Civil Rights Game as well.

Mr. Hank Aaron, as a Hall of Famer who was once the all-time home run leader with 755 home runs--and parenthetically I might add he'll always be my home run leader--but he was a Negro League baseball player before he played for the Braves in both Milwaukee and Atlanta. Mr. Aaron formed the Chasing the Dream Foundation with his wife in 1994 and has given financial support to hundreds of youths that enables them to pursue their talents in music, dance, arts, science, literature, and athletics. His wife, by the way, attended Texas College in Tyler, Texas, where she is on the board of directors. And it has been one of the highlights of my life to get to meet Mr. Aaron on more than one occasion.

It's heartbreaking, heart-rending, to hear some of the hell on Earth he was put through simply because of race. Yet he never wavered. He continued to give everything he had to those tasks put before him. People remember the home-run record, but many do not realize he had over a .300 batting average, .305, I believe, lifetime. Incredible. I once asked him for somebody who was a home-run hitter to hit over .300--most pro-players only dream of hitting .300. He hit home runs and hit over .300. How did you do that? Was there some secret ability you had?

And in his typical humble style, Mr. Aaron said, I was a good guess hitter.

Typical Hank Aaron, humility completely for such an extraordinarily gifted man who used his talents, developed them, and we all know he didn't get where he was without working, persevering. And the heartbreaking part, the assaults verbally and in other ways, the threats that the man endured simply because of the color of his skin, I look forward to him being honored at that game, as he rightfully should be.

The Civil Rights Game also includes a roundtable discussion and youth summit that highlights the role that baseball has played in the civil rights movement. The game has had only a short history itself as a Civil Rights Game, but I would expect it would develop into a fine tradition.

With that, I would urge my colleagues to join in supporting this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

In conclusion, I would encourage my colleagues to support House Resolution 530. My friend from Tennessee mentioned Satchel Paige. He had some great quotes. Many people quote him as saying, ``Don't look back. They may be gaining on you.'' But I read a quote that I like even better than that, attributed to him later in life, when he said, ``It's okay to look back. Just don't stare.'' And it seems to me that that's what this bill does. We look forward, but we look back. We don't stare, but we recognize the greatness that has gotten us to where we are today.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 530) commending the purpose of the third annual Civil Rights Baseball Game and recognizing the historical significance of the location of the game in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 530 commends the purpose of the third annual Civil Rights Baseball Game and recognizes the historic significance of the location of the Civil Rights Baseball Game in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I want to commend my colleague the gentleman from Cincinnati (Mr. Driehaus) for introducing this legislation. The Civil Rights Baseball Game is an important event, and it deserves to be recognized by the House of Representatives.

The third annual Civil Rights Baseball Game will be played in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Great American Ballpark on June 20, 2009, between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox. Many celebrities will be in attendance, including Hank Aaron, Muhammad Ali, Bill Cosby, and Bebe Winans. This Major League Baseball game was created to honor those who fought both on and off the field for equal treatment of all people.

The first Civil Rights Baseball Game was played in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2007, between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians. It was organized as a preseason game, intended to commend the civil rights movement in the United States as part of a larger celebration of the civil rights movement. Memphis was selected for its important role in the history of the civil rights movement.

This year's host city, Cincinnati, Ohio, has a long and rich history in both the game of baseball and in the field of civil rights. Cincinnati was an important stop on the Underground Railroad and is the home of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center located adjacent to the ballpark. Cincinnati was also home to the Negro League's Cincinnati Tigers from 1934 to 1937, and it was in Cincinnati that the first night baseball game was played in 1935.

Mr. Speaker, baseball has long been considered the great American pastime. It is part of our culture. It reflects the values of teamwork, competition, fair play, and the pursuit of excellence. Baseball was once segregated, as was most of the rest of the country, until Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. The rest of the Nation would follow in time, but it was on the diamond that we made the most important steps towards ending Jim Crow. As Mr. Rickey said, ``Prejudice has no place in sports, and baseball must recognize that truth if it is to maintain stature as a national game.''

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleague from Ohio in honoring the Civil Rights Baseball Game. I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Driehaus), who represents Cincinnati and is the chief sponsor of the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen), who represents Memphis, the location of the first Civil Rights Baseball Game.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I thank the gentleman from Ohio for introducing the resolution. I urge my colleagues to support it.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is certainly my privilege to rise today and bring to the floor this resolution honoring the third annual Civil Rights Game. It is the third annual Civil Rights Game, but it is the first time that this game has been played during the regular season. And we are honored in Cincinnati to have that game at Great American Ballpark. I know Congresswoman Jean Schmidt and I will be looking forward to that event.

And as was mentioned earlier by several of my colleagues, it's not just a baseball game. It's also recognizing great leaders, great leaders who have broken down barriers. That includes at the luncheon that we will be holding Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, and Bill Cosby, three giants who have broken down so many barriers amongst them.

I applaud Major League Baseball. I applaud the Cincinnati Reds for choosing Cincinnati as the host of this event.

I would draw your attention to one other aspect of the game, Mr. Speaker, and that is to the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a stone's throw--a baseball's throw, if you will, from Great American Ballpark. The Underground Railroad Freedom Center, founded in 2002 in Cincinnati, is all about discussing freedom. It's all about being the champion of civil rights. And while it was established to draw attention to the role the city of Cincinnati played and that the people of Cincinnati played in the underground railroad, today it serves as

the vehicle, it serves as the convener of conversations around injustices today and freedoms which are challenged today, making it relevant to you and I and all Americans as we discuss civil rights. So I'm proud to have the Underground Railroad Freedom Center being part of this celebration. I think it is very much appropriate that the Freedom Center is participating in the luncheon, celebrating our heroes. And I am proud to be a Cincinnatian and to welcome this game to the city of Cincinnati. I join with the Cincinnati Reds in thanking Major League Baseball.

I would like to thank Mr. Scott for the time.

I would like to congratulate Cincinnati on their good fortune to be the host of this game. Memphis was the host for the first two games. The final exhibition game of spring training, the only game that was televised on ESPN, and a great event in our city, where the National Civil Rights Museum exists and the site of civil rights struggles and civil rights victories. We really enjoyed the opportunity to have players honored there, Willie Mays, Minnie Minoso, my hero, and others over the years, who have brought great pride to the city of Memphis where we have the finest minor league baseball park ever constructed, AutoZone Park. We felt that the game should permanently stay in Memphis, but it has moved on.

I want to congratulate Cincinnati, and I congratulate Major League Baseball for having such a game. Jackie Robinson has been immortalized as a civil rights hero whose number 42 was retired by Major League Baseball in an appropriate manner. There were many great players in the Negro baseball leagues who we honored last year with a resolution--such as Satchel Paige, who was written up, I think, in today's New York Times--and the great careers they had, great ballplayers. So it's appropriate that civil rights, which baseball and sports have contributed to so much, be remembered by Major League Baseball. I congratulate Major League Baseball and the city of Cincinnati.

I just want to say to my colleague from Texas--Noah.